(CNN) - President Barack Obama amplified his campaign's recent attack against Mitt Romney on Friday, calling out his Republican rival over reports that Romney's former private equity firm advised companies on outsourcing American jobs overseas.

"We do not need an outsourcing pioneer in the Oval Office. We need a president who will fight for American jobs and fight for American manufacturing. That's what my plan will do," Obama said Friday at a campaign rally in Tampa, Florida.– Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker

Earlier in the day, his campaign lit up with criticism against Romney after the Washington Post reported that Bain Capital, a firm Romney co-founded in 1984 and left in 1999, had invested in multiple companies that "specialized in relocating jobs." Several of the firms built new facilities "in low-wage countries," especially in Asia.

"(Bain) owned companies that were pioneers in the practice of shipping work from the United States to overseas call centers and factories making computer components, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission," the report said.

In his speech Friday, Obama pounced on the report: "Today it was reported in the Washington Post that the companies his firm owned were pioneers in the outsourcing of American jobs to places like China and India. Pioneers!"

Obama's remarks came in a spirited speech to a fired up crowd at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, the same town to host the Republican National Convention in August.

Democrats, particularly Obama's campaign, have pounded Romney over his history at Bain, using the firm as a way to frame the candidate as an out of touch businessman more interested in making profits for the wealthy than creating jobs for the masses.

Arguing that Romney uses his corporate experience as his calling card on the campaign trail, Obama said Friday that the presumptive GOP presidential nominee has the wrong ideas about how to turn the economy around.

"The challenge that we have faced for over a decade is that bigger profits haven't led to better jobs, bigger profits haven't led to higher incomes," Obama said.

His senior campaign strategist, David Axelrod, described the report earlier in the day as a "significant moment" in the campaign, signaling Obama's team may continue to use the new Bain offense against Romney in the coming days.

Responding to the report, Team Romney called the article a "fundamentally flawed story," arguing it fails to point out the difference between "domestic outsourcing versus offshoring."

Outsourcing, the campaign argues, is a common practice and can occur domestically without sending jobs overseas. Offshoring, on the other hand, involves shifting work out of house and overseas.

"Mitt Romney spent 25 years in the real world economy so he understands why jobs come and they go," said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul in statement. "As President, he will implement policies that make it easier and more attractive for companies to create jobs here at home."

A spokesman for Bain Capital also responded to the report Friday, simply pointing to its successful ventures since its founding.

"Bain Capital's business model has always been to build great companies and improve their operations," the company said in a statement. "We have helped the 350 companies in which we have invested, which include over 100 start-up businesses, produce $80 billion of revenue growth in the United States while growing their revenues well over twice as fast as both the S&P and the U.S. economy over the last 28 years."

soundoff(83 Responses)

The only thing R-Money did not outsource was his 5 sons to Iraq or Afghanistan – and he has some nerve to talk about foreign policies or talk about the fact that he wants to bring the jobs back to America that he outsourced in the first place... WAKE UP AMERICA!!!

REMEMBER: "... I’m not familiar precisely with exactly what I said but I stand by what I said whatever it was...?" His EXACT words!!!

Obama 2012 – The Only Trusted Way Forward!!

June 22, 2012 06:58 pm at 6:58 pm |

Jonquil

THIS is what I want from my President! He's never petty and mean spirited, but he tells it exactly like it is. In a 24/7 news cycle, President Obama has to address discrepencies from The GOP as soon as he hears them and he needs to explain - in the plainest terms - what The GOP idea "branding", platitudes and mantras, really mean. He can't expect that Republicans would never sink so low as to lie, outright and pander to racial tensions and fears; they can and they have. This must be kept-up through the election and if all goes well, he needs to keep on message even after he's elected.

Some opponents play dirty, President Obama. You don't compromise yourself and your character, by calling Republicans out on their dirty tricks.

June 22, 2012 07:03 pm at 7:03 pm |

CBR

Romney does believe in outsourcing. He believed in his health care program until he started running for the 2012 run for President. His mandates for schools were made and never paid for. That meant higher taxes in the towns and cities.
Vet his entire record to really learn about him. Take a look at this statements before he came to MA to run for Gov. He managed to push Gov. Jane Swift right back to western MA.

June 22, 2012 07:15 pm at 7:15 pm |

Q

Job creators have to outsource untill people wake up and work for reasonable wages like the Chinese.......ROMNEY 2012

June 22, 2012 07:21 pm at 7:21 pm |

Olusanya Gbolahan Vincent

America better thank their stars for the auto industry bailout championed by the president. Because left to Romney, according to his op-ed he wrote in the new york times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/opinion/19romney.html?_r=1 all the G.M jobs would have gone to China by now a.l.a Bain style.

June 22, 2012 07:25 pm at 7:25 pm |

n

You anti Obama bloggers are whipped, you sound like broken records. Come up with something original and factual. No matter about Obama, face it, Romney is one hundred times worst and would be a total disaster. Period. He is by far, running neck and neck with Newt in the trustworthy box.

June 22, 2012 07:28 pm at 7:28 pm |

Penobscot

You've had almost 4 years to create jobs and blah, blah, blah....you haven't done it. You won't do it. See you later.

June 22, 2012 07:32 pm at 7:32 pm |

Penobscot

All Obama talks about is a plan....I want to see results.

June 22, 2012 07:37 pm at 7:37 pm |

bill

I wonder if the uhbama considers the Solyndra employees outsourced.

June 22, 2012 07:38 pm at 7:38 pm |

Tubby the Tuba Texas

At least with General Motors the nation is making a killing off that investment!!

June 22, 2012 07:43 pm at 7:43 pm |

AJ

Romney got very rich by sending jobs overseas, Greed Over People is the only thing he knows.

June 22, 2012 07:44 pm at 7:44 pm |

Sanity

Obama doesn't outsource; he just kills jobs.

June 22, 2012 07:45 pm at 7:45 pm |

Sydnium S. Washington

Well, where ARE they now?

June 22, 2012 07:45 pm at 7:45 pm |

Republican who supports President Obama

Mitt will never admit to the truth. His business model at Bain was to find cheaper ways of doing business. That means he shipped jobs overseas. He should be eating the words he said that our President is sitting there watching jobs being sent overseas. Truth is he willfully engaged in this and he should own up to it.

Lying will not serve him any good. Hoping people ignore this fact will not happen either Willard.

It always amazes me how Obama critizes someone for doing the same thing he does. Jobs sent to China, Mexico. Offers Brazil billions to start drilling in the Gulf, stating that we want to be their best customer, all the while doing everything to kill the oil industry in this country. Most of the media in this country will try to keep anything that makes Obama look bad out of the news. Hopefully, there will be enough people who actually pay attention this time around and make this President a one-term president.

June 22, 2012 08:14 pm at 8:14 pm |

trex

...............Close it up , Joe. We made all we could, now it's ...............Cayman Time...................................

June 22, 2012 08:21 pm at 8:21 pm |

charlie avila

I will repeat again: four more years for obama in the white house means the time he needs to destroy the united states. Militarily and economically. Obama is president because god put him there to comply his prophecies, to weaken the nation turning it into a third world country. The global economy collapsing is the best evidence. And obama will cause the united states to be downgraded its economy again before the year end. Illegal immigrants will help obama weaken the country. Also, the fast and furious program is arming drugs cartels in the country to attack americans if obama lose re-election. Obama's voters supporters are blind, and can't see obama's evil agenda against americans. He's the perfect liar and his voters will be sorry!!....

June 22, 2012 08:24 pm at 8:24 pm |

wade

This shows how utterly stupid Obama really is. His constant attacks on Bain have never worked because in truth Bain has a 90 % success rate and created more than a hundred thousand jobs. Obama has never even help a private sector job. Romney is a total success. Obama a total failure. What is there to decide about? Who cares what a total failure like Obama has to say? NO one! He is getting fired in Nov. Count on it.

To Myview is: your view is wrong, OBAMA/BIDEN 2012. Come on we are in this situation because the Republican Party, a decade of Tax cut= 1.8trillion added to the debt. Two wars= 2.3 trillions added to the debt. A decade of Tax cut promoted by Bush, a republican party to the jobs creators, guess what? They r mot creating jobs, so instead of hate the mexicans, open your eyes and your mind, the real problem is ”THE REPUBLICAN PARTY”. They dont care about the people, republican party= SELFISH PARTY

June 22, 2012 08:31 pm at 8:31 pm |

lovethe usaorleave

Well Clinton started NAFTA & Obama is relying on him during the election. Then one of his biggest $$ donors ceo of GE has sent more jobs out of the US than any other company. This is what is known as selective memory.

June 22, 2012 08:31 pm at 8:31 pm |

wade

Obama has not only out sourced more Jobs than Romney ever dreamed of he has sent jobs Over seas . American Jobs. Take a look at the expansion of investments by companies Obama bailed out in CHINA and MEXICO. Obama is a total liar hypocrite but then he has always been.

June 22, 2012 08:32 pm at 8:32 pm |

once upon a horse

I always hear that the US has one of the highest corporate tax rates, YET under Obama many of these corporations have made RECORD PROFITS. So something here just don't add up. One thing I do know is that although they are making trillions of dollars in profits they still are not using much of it to hire anybody and that don't add up either.

June 22, 2012 08:40 pm at 8:40 pm |

Claudia, Houston, Tx

Immigrants aren't just Mexicans and Mexicans aren't taking your jobs. The people who are taking your jobs are immigrants from Asia who have the high tech skills you need. So get busy and stop complaining before Mexicans do take your so-called job. Furthermore, it ain't "your job", an employer has the right to hire whom he chooses and if it ain't you, oh well, I understand why. Qualify yourself and stop complaining.